Enhancing Talent, Attraction and Retention in the WV Workforce

2018

For the first time, WV Forward and more than 20 of West Virginia’s public, private and community and technical higher education schools’ career services and alumni associations are collaborating to better link talent to jobs. The group is looking at the barriers and opportunities for West Virginia graduates to remain in West Virginia and enter the workforce. This newly-formed Talent Pipeline Professionals group is working together to uncover solutions that link students and alumni to West Virginia jobs, employers, and opportunities. From the concerns raised by this mass out-migration of graduates in 2018, WV Forward and partners have recognized the need for information on recent graduates and alumni. After contacting schools across the state and better understanding limitations of the known data, an eagerness among the schools to share ideas and coordinate efforts emerged. With a universal desire to form a coalition to work together, WV Forward has helped assemble a diverse group of schools. The inaugural meeting was held on November 13 at the University of Charleston.

The Talent Pipeline Professionals are exploring the strengths and weaknesses of current job search systems for new graduates and alumni to determine what is working and what should be improved. They are also committed to tracking graduates throughout their careers to help identify better retainment strategies, with the goal to better assist West Virginia’s higher education system’s graduates and alumni, as well as how to better link them to West Virginia employers.

2019

The Talent Pipeline Professionals are assuming projects throughout 2019 to (1) give all colleges access to best practices for receiving data from graduate job surveys and alumni directories; (2) identify strategies for securing key information and data from graduates, including those who have left the state; (3) prioritize West Virginia tailored career advising topics for all colleges in this state; and (4) identify potential opportunities for a joint online job listing database for our colleges and schools.